This hits close to home. Big grit jumps early on just hide the low spots, then you chase them forever with a DA and a glaze. Staying at 180 until the shape is dead on feels slow but it's actually faster. Old guys know what they're talking about way more than we want to admit at the time.

Wait, so your wife is worried because you upgraded from a bag to a binder? That sounds like the opposite of losing it. A binder means you actually care now, not that you went off the deep end.

Did it ever mess with your group dynamic when someone fell behind or just didn't show up? Honestly, that's the real test of any study crew. I've seen groups where one person basically ghosted after week two, and the rest of us had to carry their part of the readings. But here's the thing, that struggle kind of forced us to actually explain the material out loud to each other, which is way better than just silently reading. The talking part is what made it stick for me too, not just the splitting. So yeah, it's not always smooth, but even the rough patches teach you more than solo grinding ever will.